Late Night Confessions
by Vplasgirl
Summary: Josh's botched interview with Donna has been weighing heavily on him. When his staff suspects he isn't getting any sleep, Leo calls in the one person who can help him. COMPLETE


**Spoilers: Up to 'The Mommy Problem'**

**Disclaimer: These characters belong to WB, Wells, Sorkin and NBC. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Beta: My good friend, Jo. Thank you.**

**Late Night Confessions**

"We'll feed that message to the press tomo—" Josh broke off, stared at Donna as she stepped into the conference room, her eyes wide, her smile cautious. "What are you doing here?"

She didn't answer, instead glanced at the people assembled around the table. Josh glimpsed the time on the wall clock and was stunned at the late hour. Standing he said, "Everyone, this is Donna Moss." Quickly he gestured to each of them with his righthand. "Bram, Ned, Lou, Fionna, Ronna… Okay, let's call it a night folks. We'll pick this up in the morning. Seven sharp," he added.

With some groans and eye rolls, they almost tripped over each other to flee the room. Donna stood by the door, smiling back at them as they filed out, and nodded at something Ronna whispered to her.

Then, the glass door noiselessly swung closed behind Donna and they stared at each other from across the room.

"Don't worry. I'm not here to beg for a job again." Her tone was light, teasing, not meant to sting. Still…

Ignoring the dull ache in his chest, he flicked his gaze over her, taking in the faded blue denims, white T-shirt and black leather bomber jacket, the perfect hair his fingers always itched to touch, the softness in her eyes. Suddenly exhausted, he rubbed a hand over his face then started picking up files from the table. "It's past midnight, Donna."

"Leo called me."

Josh's eyes shot up. "Why?"

Donna shrugged. "He thought you might need me."

_Damn, Leo._ Tucking the files under his arm, he made for the door. "Go home, Donna," he said as he left the conference room and strode down the hall to his office. He didn't look back, but knew the moment she started to follow him. In his office, he dropped the files on his desk and kicked back in his chair. When he looked up, she was standing in his doorway for the second time that week.

He wanted the hurt to go away.

"Donna…"

"Leo was right, Josh. You're going to kill yourself. You look like hell."

"Yeah, well it's been a hell of a week." He propped his feet up on the desk and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry…"

His eyes snapped open. "What?"

"For putting you on the spot the other day."

"You're apologizing to me?"

"I shouldn't have taken it personally. It was business, I figured that out after…well," she sucked in a breath. "I know we can't work together anymore, Josh, but I hope we can be friends."

Why that should have made him snap, he didn't know. He wanted to scream, hurl something; instead, he turned his anger on Donna. "I don't need another friend, Donna, and I certainly don't need you and Leo mothering me." It was scathing, deliberately so, yet he regretted his callousness immediately he saw surprise yield to hurt in her eyes.

"Forgive me for being concerned about you." She started to turn away, but stopped and looked back. "Good luck with the campaign," she added brokenly before dashing out of his office.

Swearing, Josh flung his feet off his desk and was in the hallway in two seconds flat. "Donna, wait—" He sprinted after her and she was almost at the main door before he caught up to her, grabbed her arms from behind, and brought her to an abrupt halt. "Wait."

"Don't—"

He turned her to face him, and then his heart took a slow tumble to his gut. "Don't cry. Please," he added. "I'm sorry—" Josh crushed her to him as exhaustion and heartache took their toll and a sob escaped his own throat for the second time that week.

His tears came faster and hotter as her arms closed around him. He'd used up all his energy to control them since their botched interview a few days ago. So all he could do now was bury his face in her hair and let months of emotional turmoil spill out of him.

It suddenly dawned on Josh that Leo was aware of the depth and the nature of his pain. When he dropped by Josh's office a few days ago—after his painful meeting with Donna—he'd seen it and understood it. And without ever saying so, Leo was also aware that Donna was the only person who could pull him out of a slump. And that's why he'd called her.

He recalled the brief conversation he'd had with Leo after Donna left his office. Hating himself, the damned situation he found himself in, and hating her for putting him through hell these past few months, he'd turned back into his office, swearing through clenched teeth as he hurled his Donna file across the room. Press clippings had flown then scattered to the floor as he sank into his chair and folded over. "Gad—" With his elbows on his knees, he'd closed his eyes and purposefully grabbed and pulled at his hair hoping the pain of it would eclipse the burning ache in his chest.

It hadn't helped. Knowing he'd done what was right for the campaign hadn't consoled him either. He'd hurt her, and he could never find comfort in that.

Throat inflamed, swallowing with difficulty, his solar plexus had felt like it was being ripped to shreds. Or was it his heart? He couldn't tell anymore. Pressing the heels of his hands against his eyelids, Josh had taken measured breaths. He had things to do. A guy to put in the White House. He couldn't allow himself to lose focus.

_She should have known better anyway, _he remembered thinking. For all her 'I've grown' speech, she was still a babe in the woods or she would have realized that she was putting him in an impossible situation. He concluded that with her smarts, she'd figure it out as soon as she got over being pissed at him.

With a stronger breath, he'd opened his eyes—and locked on her face. A sob gasped out of him then; tears had stung his eyes, further blurring the bad, black and white newspaper photograph of her. And that's when Leo had walked in.

"What job did you offer her?"

Josh flinched. He didn't look at his old friend and mentor. He was out of his chair cleaning his floor of Donna, keeping her face on top of the pile.

"I didn't."

"I figured as much. Josh…" He resented Leo's mildly patronizing tone. "You can't make this personal."

"Personal? If this were personal she'd be my deputy right now." He shoved the rest of the press clippings in the cheap buff-colored folder and threw it on his desk. He finally looked at Leo. "How can I hire her after she publicly ridiculed us and everything we stand for?

"Everything?" Leo smiled; that wise-know-it-all smile that Josh had once admired, but which now made him wary. "It's politics, Josh. We all do what we have to in order to win."

"'_Claiming three house terms qualifies you to be President is like me saying I'm a foreign relations expert because I ordered Kung Pao last night,'"_ Josh recited animatedly, his voice rising with each word. "And that's the most benign thing she said about him."

Leo chuckled. "It's pretty good actually." At Josh's glare, Leo shook his head; his smile held firm. "She's quick and witty and smart, and she's charming. Don't you want that on our side? Think about it. As much as she thought Santos was a bad choice for President, he's still better than Vinick."

"Tell me you're not proposing we sell Santos as the lesser of two evils."

Leo shrugged. "Of course not, but it's how a lot of voters think. Anyway, it's only one way of spinning it. Annabeth could probably come up with half-a-dozen better ones."

"I don't know, Leo."

"You'll figure it out, kid," Leo said as he made to leave. At the door, he paused and looked back. "In 105 days I could be Vice-President of the United States. Did you ever think…?"

Josh gave him a confident smirk. "I did."

"Yeah." Leo's eyes dropped and contemplated the carpeting for a moment. When he looked up again, his smile was gone and so was the glint in his eyes. "But Jenny's still married to someone else."

His message had passed quietly between them then, and it was boring a hole through him now. Donna was to him what Jenny had been to Leo. In his own way, Leo had told him that nothing, not even becoming Vice-President of the United States, could ever make up for losing someone you love.

Josh wiped a hand across his face and drew back to look at Donna. Her eyes were bright and her nose red and she looked as weary as he felt—and more beautiful than ever. He didn't hesitate this time; he dipped his head and kissed her. Slowly, tenderly, finally letting her know what was in his heart. His breath hitched when she responded, her lips soft and moist, tasting of her tears as they slid over his. He coaxed them open as tenderness gave way to passion, groaning when her tongue eagerly tangled with his. She moaned into his mouth, and his last coherent thought as he grabbed fistfuls of leather and drew her hard against him was that he should have done this a long time ago.

Breathlessly, he eventually pulled back to look at her face, and watched as she slowly opened her eyes. What he saw in them made his breath catch. It also gave him the courage he'd lacked before—for years—every time he'd itched to confess how he felt about her.

"Do you understand now?" he asked her. "This is why I can't be your friend, Donna. Not just your friend. Not just your boss." He brushed her hair back and cupped her face between his hands. "I'm in love with you and it's killing me. I can't—" He broke off, fascinated by the smile that suddenly lit her face. He felt the beginning of a smile tugging at his lips too, but it never fully materialized. Donna sniffed and her eyes filled with fresh tears. "Donna—"

"Why didn't you tell me this before, Josh?" Her voice was thick with emotions, frustration among them.

Josh let go of her and raked his fingers through his hair. Ironically, telling her he was in love with her had been the easy part. "I was afraid," he admitted, not because he wanted to, but because it was the truth.

"Of what?"

"Of finding out that you didn't feel that way about me."

"I did." She wrapped her arms around his neck and he slipped his around her back, hugging her close. "I do," she whispered and his heart soared.

"Yeah?" At her nod, he drew his head back, looked at her. "Since when?"

Her smile was back. "When I knew for sure?"

"Okay…"

"When Toby told me you'd been shot," she said quietly, grief briefly clouding her eyes. "I convinced myself it was just a crush and that it would go away if I didn't dwell on it." She lifted a hand to his cheek and dragged her thumb gently along the crease there. "I love your dimples."

Her tone warmed the air around him and Josh turned his lips into the palm of her hand. "What else do you love, Donna?"

"You."

"Say it."

"I love you, Josh."

He was smiling when his lips met hers in a soft, lingering kiss. Then he sucked in a long breath and gave a weak chuckle as he pressed his forehead to hers. "I am so tired."

"Leo told me you're burning the candle at both ends. Ronna thinks you haven't been sleeping. You need to sleep, Josh."

"Yeah, well I suspect that's going to be much easier from now on. Will you come home with me?"

"To help you sleep?" she asked coquettishly.

Responding to her tone, Josh leaned in and whispered, "There's something you need to know. Sex cures insomnia."

Donna smiled. "Are you offering me a job?"

"I hope so," came an unexpected voice that made them jump apart like a pair of guilty teenagers.

"Congressman! What are you doing here?"

Santos stepped into the room and slowly approached them as his secret service escort held post by the door. "I just got in and wanted to drop some stuff off before going to the hotel," he said, shifting the rather large cardboard box he was carrying. "The better question is, what are you still doing here, Josh?"

"I was just leaving," he replied defensively.

"Good." His gaze slid to Donna. "And we meet again, Ms. Moss. Dare I say under better circumstances?"

Donna flushed prettily. "Much less embarrassing," she agreed. "It's a pleasure, sir."

Josh looked at each of them curiously. "You two met before?"

"I accidentally sat on her while she was sleeping." Astonished, suspicious, Josh's mouth dropped open and he frowned. Santos chuckled. "Relax, Josh. It was nothing I couldn't share with my wife." Shifting his gaze to Donna again, he said, "You did a good job for Russell. I hope you accept a position on our team. We could use a professional spokesperson."

Josh winced and shuffled his feet. Donna threw him an amused glance before addressing the Congressman. "Thank you, sir. I'm certainly open to suggestions."

"Good. Now, this thing's getting heavy," he said of the box. "Don't let her get away, Josh."

"Trust me. I won't."

Santos nodded his approval. "Now go home and get some sleep."

"Yes, sir. Goodnight, Congressman."

When Santos had disappeared in a back office, his detail making like shadows in the dimly lit hallways of campaign headquarters, Josh took Donna's hand in his. "So?"

"Well, I hate to say 'I told you so', but…" she trailed off with a teasing smile.

"I meant…How in the hell did Santos end up sitting on you when you were sleeping?"

Donna's smile widened. "It's a good bedtime story," she said suggestively. "Get your things, Josh. You have to be back here in six hours."

"Yeah. Don't go anywhere," he ordered before rushing to his office. A minute later, he found her waiting by the elevator, her teeth seriously worrying her bottom lip. He pushed the 'down' button. "You okay?"

Her gaze slid up to his. "I don't want you to offer me a job because of what the Congressman said, Josh. If you don't feel comfortable hiring me, it's all right. I understand."

"Well, it looks like I'm the only one uncomfortable with the role you played in the primaries. Leo and the Congressman don't seem to care, and after what Lou had to say about the way I want to run this campaign, I doubt she'll object. It'll be her decision anyway. I'll ask her to give you a call in the morning."

"Lou?"

"You met her earlier. Louise Thornton. She's our communications director." The elevator doors opened and they stepped in. "I think she'll approve of your style."

"But you don't."

Josh smirked. "I will when you're on our side."

They rode the rest of the way down to the underground parking garage in silence. At his car, Josh opened the passenger door for her then threw his backpack in the rear seat. Despite his exhaustion, he felt better than he had in months…maybe years. As they waited for the automatic garage door to open, he picked up Donna's hand and kissed it.

She smiled. "So when did you know?"

"Know what?" He released her hand to shift.

"That you were in love with me."

He shot her a quick glance as they exited the garage onto the street. "The day I met you."

"Yeah, right!" She laughed. "I don't believe you."

Light and shadow played across her face with each streetlight they drove past. "Well that was the first time I knew," Josh admitted. "The second time was when you got me for that nuclear missile silo under the White House thing." She laughed softly, remembering. "The third time was…" He mulled it over for a moment. "When you dropped your underwear in front of Karen Cahill. The fourth was—"

"Enough, Josh," she exclaimed half laughing, half groaning.

He was still smiling when he pulled up in front of his townhouse. He switched off the engine and his gaze locked with hers. "Ready for this?"

She nodded, and then stopped him with a hand on his sleeve as he reached for the door. "Seriously, Josh. When did you know for sure?"

He could tell the time for laughs was over. This really mattered to her, as it had mattered to him. He leaned over the console and tenderly kissed her. And then, truthfully, he said, "The day we met."

**The End**


End file.
